It's been six months since Royal Caribbean implemented a new policy prohibiting certain travel items, but we're still seeing the wrong ones piling up.
In September 2024, Royal Caribbean announced it would not allow multi-plug outlets on its ships. It was a major shift, as these had been a very popular item to bring on a cruise ship.
Power outlets in cruise ship cabins are quite limited, especially on older ships. With the proliferation of phones, smart watches, tablets, and other electronics, the need for power outlets has grown tremendously.
While the cruise line has long banned surge protectors because they were a fire hazard, "Multi-Plug Outlets" were added to the list too.
After a few weeks of confusion, it became clear passengers can no longer bring anything that turns a single outlet into multiple outlets.
Adding more USB outlets is fine, but electric outlets cannot be extended.
It's important to know which devices you can bring on your cruise, and which are going to get taken from you as you try to board the ship.
Don't buy the wrong power outlet extender
Because Royal Caribbean's rule is still fairly new and other lines allow them, it can be confusing which items to bring.
On a recent Adventure of the Seas cruise, a person posted a photo on Facebook the confiscated items table strewn with the banned outlet extenders.
While we can't see the specific model of each one, it's clear they all resemble power strips that offer additional power outlets and USB outlets.
A quick search of Amazon shows many of these labeled as being for use on cruise ships.
To be fair, they are allowed on other lines. As an example, Carnival Cruise Line has not banned these items.
It's also not very clear on Royal Caribbean's prohibited items list which type of outlet extenders are permissible.
This is what the cruise line lists:
We do allow consumer type power conversion device USB charger (multi-plug blocks on which the outputs are for USB cables). Note: Devices must be stamped with US/Europe recognized Conformance Marking to demonstrate compliance with Electrical Safety standards.
While not a new policy, it's also worth noting you still cannot bring surge protectors or power strips either.
Which plug adapter do I need for Royal Caribbean?
To avoid having your things taken away from you, we have a list of USB chargers and power blocks you could bring on Royal Caribbean.
Depending on your power needs, any one of these should work well. All of these links contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you buy it, but it costs you absolutely nothing extra.
Anker 543 Charger (65W)
This is an ultra slim desktop charger that adds four USB ports, including a USB-C outlet.
This will work well for Apple devices, and it's small. It has a 0.7-inch design and weighs just 5 oz (about the same as a baseball).
EPICKA Universal Travel Adapter
This is my favorite travel adaptor because it's small, and works well on the ship and overseas.
It has just one electric outlet, so you don't lose the outlet you're plugging into. Plus, it can be used with UK or EU outlets. This not only makes it useful around Europe, but also in your cruise cabin because there's usually an EU outlet in there.
It has four USB-A outlets on the bottom, and a single USB-C outlet as well.
Anker Power Bank
Our readers have recommended a workaround to the power outlet issue all together with a power brick.
You charge the power brick, and then plug in whichever device you need to have charged. This frees up the outlets in your cabin, and there's no issue with how many outlets there are.
I'd recommend getting a travel-friendly, but beefy power bank so it can keep multiple devices going.
You probably don't need one on a new cruise ship
Depending on your needs, you might not need to buy an adaptor at all if you go on relatively new ship.
Royal Caribbean began adding more power outlets, and even USB plugs to ships that were built in the last ten years or so.
Ships such as Icon of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Utopia of the Seas all have many outlets and I never used my power adaptor on these ships.
The Quantum Class ships may be in the "gray area" of if you need a power adaptor or not.
Cabins have more than the usual assortment of power outlets, but if you're sharing a room with more than one person, there may not be enough outlets for your needs.
You don't need to buy a power adaptor if you have a C-PAP machine
I've seen some confusion among cruisers that need a C-PAP machine and thinking they need to buy a power adaptor for their cruise.
Royal Caribbean will assist with a special need, such as a C-PAP machine, but you do need to take one extra step.
Using the Special Needs Form before your cruise begins, you can request an extension cord and distilled water for a CPAP machine. There's no extra cost, you just need to make the request pre-cruise.
